Dear Reader,

Welcome to the Fall 2012 issue of The Call, dedicated to the members of Blue Ridge Mountain Club and the reason why our club enjoys such a strong reputation for warmth, friendliness, and fun… community! This past year has been very exciting, as activities like the Blowing Rock Wine & Food Festival, Symphony of the Mountains, BRMC Supper Club, as well as impromptu gatherings like our potluck cookouts at Watson Gap Pavilion continue to help the spirit of our club come alive. People are what breathe life into any community, and we are happy to introduce you to two of our pioneer members in this issue. Among the first families to build homes at BRMC, Marilyn Lapidus and Peter Gatti (pages 4&5) are prime examples of just how much each individual contributes to the creation of a wonderful community experience. Another exciting club development is the launch of the second phase of our popular Watson Gap Cottages, which will welcome 17 more families into the Watson Gap neighborhood. Turn to page 6 to read more about this exciting new collection of modern family homes. There are endless ways to celebrate community, and at BRMC we do it through live seasonal activities, on our webpage, and online via our blog and Facebook page. If you haven’t checked them out already, start following today and make your own contributions to the growth of this extraordinary community. Or better yet, check out our events calendar and join us!

Sincerely,

Jim Pitts General Manager Blue Ridge Mountain Club

Being surrounded by friends and family is as important to our quality of life as a comfortable and secure home. Communities

provide a ready network of friends, acquaintances, and in some cases extended family, who support and enrich our day-to-day lives.

Community spirit is alive and well at Blue Ridge Mountain Club, and we’re thrilled to introduce new members to the fold each season.

Cover photo of Marilyn Lapidus by Ellen Gwin F e a t u r e d E x t r a o r d i n a r y

Best Value in the High CountryExposing the foundations of our reputation

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FALL EVENTS• Beach Blast on the Blue Ridge at BRMC, September 14• Harvest Celebration Awetumn Camping, September 28 & 29• Pigskin Tailgate at Appalachian State, October 6

Feel the Fun of Fall in the Mountains!Celebrate the year’s most colorful season with fantastic events the whole family will enjoy, or download the Play Now! program from our website for more fun activities in the area.

Contact our Outbound Coordinator Harrison Herbst for more information at hherbst@brmountainclub.com or call (828) 295-8667 ext. 5916.

Still searching for the perfect mountain home, where value is high and community is strong? Then it’s time to get to know Blue Ridge Mountain Club.

Visit our website for real estate opportunities, browse our blog to see what’s happening in the community,

or join us on Facebook for regular updates on happenings. The door is always open at our Blowing

Rock headquarters at 1155 Main Street – drop by!www.BlueRidgeMountainClub.com (828) 295-8667

The Call of Community

It’s a conclusion arrived at by our members, High Country real estate brokers, and just about anyone who has taken the time to discover all that Blue Ridge Mountain Club has to offer. Earning the title “Best Value in the High Country” has to do with everything

from being debt-free, to having completed infrastructure, to offering excellent product at below market prices. However, there really are three key reasons why our members fell in love with Blue Ridge Mountain Club.

Heart of the High Country LocationUp where climate has always been a key draw, equidistant from the small town of Blowing Rock and big town of Boone, NC, BRMC boasts one of the most central, scenic, convenient, and accessible locations for High Country living. Blowing Rock offers exceptional dining, excellent boutique shopping, and a timeless, Norman Rockwell atmosphere, while Boone (home to the App State Mountaineers!) provides all the conveniences of a city, with hospitals and medical centers, commercial shopping, and its own exciting cultural scene.

Unparalleled ViewsShow-stopping views are the natural hallmarks of BRMC and a big source of pride within the community. Giving residents the feeling of living on ridgelines

as spectacular as the Blue Ridge Parkway, the views begin the moment you enter the property – sweeping panoramas of distant peaks and the lush, cloud-cradling valleys resting below.

Belonging to Blowing RockBlowing Rock is continually voted “Prettiest Small Town in America.” For generations families have traveled to this quaint, special place in the High Country to enjoy the buzz and culture, slower pace of life and friendly atmosphere of the “real” Mitford.*

*Mitford is the fictional name of the award-winning series by Jan Karon, about a small town in the North Carolina mountains. Inspired by the town of Blowing Rock, this series expresses the true heart and spirit of this place.

Meet Marilyn When Marilyn and husband Steve Lapidus discovered the Blue Ridge Mountain Club sales office four years ago, it was purely by chance. It wasn’t their first time to Blowing Rock. Transplanted from Manhattan to Miami in 1977, the mountains of North Carolina and Blowing Rock in particular had been a favorite escape from Miami summers for many years. On one such visit, while Marilyn was window-shopping, Steve wandered into BRMC’s Main Street office. Later that day, after touring the property, they became owners. “We just fell in love... with the mountains, the scenery, the peacefulness, and decided this was where we wanted to build a home away from Miami.” On a spacious East Ridge property with rolling mountain views on three sides, the Lapidus’s built their dream home. A reflection of their unique family and personalities, the home has plenty of room for visiting children and grandchildren, a home office to cut down on Steve’s traveling, and a state-of-the-art kitchen where Marilyn spends many a happy hour. “I was a foodie before there was a name for it,” she fondly declares. In Manhattan, Marilyn’s lifelong passion for food and cooking found her collaborating with Graham Kerr, the original “Galloping Gourmet” on a line of food products, a TV show, and several cookbooks. After moving to Miami, Marilyn started a catering business and taught cooking classes before setting up a dessert business out of their home. At BRMC, Marilyn is known for never leaving the house without a box of delicious bite-sized cakes, cookies, or other desserts for anyone fortunate enough to cross her path, which makes her a favorite around the sales office. Marilyn also loves entertaining and has hosted several informal get-togethers in her home for neighbors and friends. “When we came up here we were hoping to not only build in a beautiful area, but to make friendships with other people doing the same thing we did – starting fresh in a new place and looking to develop that feeling of community. And we have found that to be so much the case. That’s what we’re loving so much about this place.” This summer, Marilyn became a regular contributor to the BRMC blog, where she submits one fabulous recipe each month in the “Marilyn’s Foodie Favorites” section. Visit the blog at www.brmcblog.com for some of Marilyn’s personal favorite recipes!

Getting to know your neighbors is one of the great joys of moving to a new place. Finding like-minded souls to share a new adventure keeps us young and helps us grow. We’d like to introduce you to two special members who through their unique talent and energy, are helping to make BRMC a richer and more vibrant community.

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If anyone can speak to the evolution of BRMC it’s Peter Gatti. One of our very first members, the Gatti family home was the first constructed on the property. Hailing from Atlanta, the Gattis had been looking for a cooler place to spend part of the year – a place they could retire to and never grow tired of. Having looked all over the High Country, they settled on BRMC after discovering and falling in love with Blowing Rock, which Peter describes as “a Norman Rockwell town.” Since retiring to Florida, the Gattis drive up to spend five months of each year – enough time for Peter to re-invest in his lifelong hobby and passion. Peter has been playing music since he was a teenager. Keyboard, accordion, organ – at 16 he started his first garage band, and from ages 18 to 23, played four to five nights a week all over northeastern Pennsylvania where he grew up. Though he gave up band life after getting married, the Gattis have always had a piano in the home and music in the background. Around five years ago, Peter got back into music in earnest. “Like all my hobbies it just took off. I bought the best recording software, the best interfaces, the best amplifiers, and I just started writing and

recording for fun.” Turning the 800 sq. ft bonus room in his BRMC home into a fully-equipped studio, complete with vocal booth and seven keyboards, Peter now has the perfect space for his creativity. A session at Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy Camp, which Peter’s kids bought him for Father’s Day last year, got Peter close to some of his mentors and inspired his writing. Soon after, he hooked up with a Florida-based band called “Lawyers, Guns & Money” and got back to his classic rock roots. Before long, the band was up at Peter’s BRMC studio recording a 6-song original EP. “Our rock star days if you will are over, but it’s just fun – it’s a hobby. I’ve been playing with them for about a year now, combining the studio and the live aspect, and I’m enjoying the heck out of it.” Peter’s not the only one enjoying the band’s talents – Lawyers, Guns & Money played the first BRMC Supper Club to resounding applause, proving their rock star days may not be completely over!

Read more about Peter’s band and get a copy of their CD at www.LGMBandFl.com.

Meet Peter

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P e o p l e & P l a c e s P e o p l e & P l a c e s

Peter Gatti in his BRMC home studio

Various shots of Marilyn Lapidus in her kitchen at BRMC

Community Rock Star

Master Dessert Maker

Communityupdate

BRMC would like to congratulate the Williams/Hicks, Oeschle, Wolfert, Geist, and Alonso families on the completion of their mountain homes! Ten more homes are currently under construction. Visit the BRMC blog for updates.

With Phase II of the popular Watson Gap cottage collection comes 17 new opportunities to own at the very heart of Blue Ridge Mountain Club. Located on a commanding ridgeline, the Phase II cottages are centrally located in an intimate little enclave a short stroll from the Watson Gap Park and Pavilion. The three primary goals of the neighborhood are to preserve

the natural privacy of each property, while optimizing the fantastic

views and ensuring each home is unique in character. Teamwork is

responsible for the successful outcome, according to cottage designer

Hutch Johnson. “Patrick Warren, BRMC’s resident engineer, together

with General Manager Jim Pitts, really did a masterful job of sighting

the houses on the land to provide as much privacy between homes as

possible while opening up the views.”

The four distinct model cottages in Phase II were named after

especially scenic overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway: Grandview,

Raven Rock, Thunderhill, and Yadkin. What each cottage shares is the

strength and warmth of genuine High Country craftsmanship. “Interior

textures like the hand-scraped floors, timber beams, and wood

ceilings, as well as exterior ones like the authentic cedar shakes, real

cedar board & batten, and dry-stacked stone, give real depth and color

to each home,” says Hutch.

Topography played a large role in determining the variations of

i n t r o d u c i n gWatson Gap, Phase II

Grand Views Meet Great Variety in a New, 17-Cottage Collection

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each floor plan, which will thrill families who love to entertain. Options

for a combination of up to five bedrooms and bonus rooms are all

designed with a spacious and bright, open-plan kitchen with adjoining

living-dining area and seamless exterior porch looking out toward the

incredible views. Special touches were paid to ensure a high degree

of comfort within each home, befitting the nature of an outdoorsy

lifestyle. Almost every bedroom has a bathroom, good-sized closet

space and storage, and by every backdoor is a bench with cubbies –

places to keep hiking boots, leave a fly rod, or other

outdoor equipment.

With so many floor plans, models, and

elevations to choose from, families have a

greater opportunity to truly personalize their

home. Says Hutch, “the end product is going to

be something that people are really going to love.

These are homes that people can enjoy together

as a couple, with family, extended family and

friends, for generations.”

Watson Gap Cottages start at $399K and

with only 17 available, are bound to go fast. Get in

touch with a BRMC sales representative soon to

find out more or reserve your ideal

mountain home!

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This is a conceptual artist’s rendering and subject to change without notice.

View from Watson Gap, Phase II

The Weekender Cottage

Blue Ridge Mountain Club’s featured dwelling is The Weekender Cottage, by local custom home-builders, 4 Forty Four. This comfortable, open-plan mountain home is ideal for the active family. The floor plan is thoughtfully designed to maximize the square footage and comes equipped with five bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms, multiple living and gathering areas, as well as several outdoor spaces for entertaining or relaxing. Each Weekender Cottage is Energy Star-certified, adhering to sustainable building practices that reduce utility expenses and the impact on the environment.

The Weekender Cottage packaged with lot 362 is currently featured at $599K, available with options for an external garage or carport. Contact a BRMC sales representative today! (828) 295-8667

AwetumnCamping

This fall, leave the sightseers on the Parkway and venture into our unbelievably great outdoors for some wilderness camping at the most awesome time of year. Visit

www.BlueRidgeMountainClub.com or call Harrison Herbst at (828) 295-8667

ext. 5912 for more information!

THIS IS REAL ESTATE.

Answer thecall today

(828) 295-86671155 Main St, Blowing Rock N.C.www.blueridgemountainclub.com

Obtain the Property Report required by Federal Law before signing anything. All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted. This information shall not constitute a valid offer in any state where prior registration is required. This information and features and information described and depicted herein is based on proposed development plans, which are subject to change without notice. Actual development may or may not be as currently proposed. No guarantee is made that the features, amenities, or facilities depicted by an artist’s rendering or otherwise described herein will be built, or, if built will be the same type, size, or nature as depicted or described. © 2011 Blowing Rock Resort Venture, LLC

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